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“Name’s Bond. James Bond,” is one of many famous quotations from Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel character James Bond or agent 007, a British secret intelligence agent. Ian Fleming was born on May 28, 1908 in London, England. Fleming’s book character has taken the entertainment world by storm over the last 64 years. Fleming’s exciting adventures of James Bond have inspired many other writers to develop exciting narratives about Mr. Bond that would also enthrall its audiences. EON Productions, a film production company, is known for producing films associated with James Bond and his many endeavors. Most of the world is familiar with these films, but not so much with the origins of Mr. James Bond found in the original novels by Ian Fleming. This essay seeks to inform readers of the origin and development of its beloved hero, Mr. 007.

To know where the character came from, we must uncover what inspired the author. Believe it or not, Ian Fleming himself and some of his friends were his inspiration for James Bond. Fleming served in the British Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, where he met many agents from his division and elsewhere that were involved in similar adventures as his character 007 would be. He chose this subtle name, Mr. James Bond, to contrast the exciting adventures he would have on his many missions. Fleming once said, “When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument … when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, (James Bond) is the dullest name I ever heard.” Ian Fleming gave 007 many similar attributes and likes he himself had. For example, Mr. Bond’s love for gold and gambling were inherited from his author Mr. Fleming. Fleming used names of friends, acquaintances, and old lovers as names for supporting characters in his books. Fleming’s real life and friends played a big role in the making of the most famous secret agent story of all time. Fleming is quoted proclaiming the future success of Mr. Bond to one of his friends saying, “I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories.” Whether they believed him then or not, it is obvious to us he spoke nothing but the truth.

Fleming wrote the first book, Casino Royale, while in Jamaica in 1952 with his pregnant fiancée. After two months of writing, Fleming asked his friend William Plomer to proof his story. Plomer enjoyed the manuscript. Fleming took his novel to Jonathan Cope who did not like the book very much. On the word of Fleming’s brother Peter, an accredited author, Fleming’s first novel was published in 1953 by Gildrose Publications under Mr. Cope. Jonathan Cope would then publish all of Fleming’s works as the years went on. Because of the success of his book, Fleming bought the publication company. Gildrose desired to have many authors pen stories of James Bond under a common name “Robert Markham,” but unfortunately the idea fell through. Fleming wrote ten James Bond novels and two short story compilations over 12 years.

Ian Fleming died of a heart attack in 1964 as a result of a drinking and smoking problem. Despite his death, Ian Fleming’s legacy lived on among other writers such as Christopher Wood and Kingsley Amis. In his honor, the publishing company was renamed Ian Fleming Publications in 1999. Gildrose honored Fleming’s wishes to not let the James Bond legacy die by handpicking authors to continue the serious up to the present time.

The next James Bond author was John Gardner. Gildrose Publication signed a contract with Mr. Gardner in 1981. He then wrote 16 James Bond novels, two of which became films made by EON Productions. His last Bond novel was published in 1996. Gildrose asked Raymond Benson, an American, to write the next series of Bond novels. Like Gardner, Benson was asked to bring James Bond into the modern era. He did this; however, he was criticized for Americanizing Mr. Bond. Despite criticism, he was praised for returning to Fleming’s original James Bond roots. He wrote his first novel, Zero Minus Ten, in 1997. Benson left Ian Fleming Publications in 2002 after three of his novels were made into films. The next three novelists chosen by Ian Fleming Publications contributed one novel each to the James Bond series. The most recent novelist, Anthony Horowitz, was tasked with creating the thirty-ninth James Bond novel. He used compilations of Fleming’s short stories for inspirations to create the most recent Bond book, Trigger Mortis, released in September 2015. As Ian Fleming Publications has maintained the written Bond series over the last 64 years, EON Productions took on the task of turning James Bond’s adventures on paper into a visual fantasy land for all to emjoy for decades.

Based on Fleming’s novels, James Bond was visually developed in his first film Dr. No in 1962 by EON Productions. Bond’s appearance according to the book and even more so in the movies are a fitted suit, gun, fancy car, and cool gadgets. Iconic images of James Bond include him in a suit with either a cigarette, gun, alcoholic beverage in hand, or a combination of the three. There have been eight actors who have played the character of James Bond on screen in a total of 25 movies and 1 spoof over the last 54 years. The first being Sean Connery, then David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and, most recently, Daniel Craig.  Four other men have been noted for portraying James Bond on the radio and in the first television episodes: Barry Nelson, Bob Holness, Christopher Cazenove, Michael Jayston, and Toby Stephens. Often the changing of an actor to the same character can anger and cause distaste for the series with the public. However, the love for James Bond has only grown over the years to the point his actors will be remembered and honored for all time.

Sean Connery, the first face of James Bond, is arguably the most famous 007 actor. In his first film, Dr. No in 1962, the classic James Bond theme music was played. This music was written by Monty Norman and performed by the John Barry Orchestra. Another essential of the Bond movies is a song played by a well-known artist during the title sequence of the production. The most recent song was Sam Smith’s “Writings on the Wall” in the 2015 bond film Spectre. These songs have become not only hits by the artists who sing them but also will forever be symbols of James Bond productions.

Classic James Bond items like his gun, car, and gadgets have changed over the course of Fleming’s writings in the ’50s and ’60s and the movie adaptations from the ’60s to the present. For example, a fan of the Bond novels in the ’50s, Geoffrey Boothroyd, suggested a change to Fleming of Bond’s weapon, the Beretta 418, because it was a “lady’s gun.”

In thanks, Fleming gave the MI6 Armorer in his novels the name Major Boothroyd and, in Dr. No, M introduces him to Bond as “the greatest small-arms expert in the world.” Bond also used a variety of rifles, including the Savage Model 99 in “For Your Eyes Only” and a Winchester .308 target rifle in “The Living Daylights.” Other handguns used by Bond in the Fleming books included the Colt Detective Special and a long-barreled Colt .45 Army Special (Daily News Dig).

Also Bond’s cars have ranged from Bentley to bus and BMW to Aston Martin.

Bond’s most famous car is the silver gray Aston Martin DB5, first seen in Goldfinger; it later featured in Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale and Skyfall. The films have used a number of different Aston Martins for filming and publicity, one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in the US for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector (Daily News Dig).

Interestingly, Fleming’s novels and first screenplays consisted of very few gadgets. The films developed by EON Productions are what we thank for the extensive and exciting briefings with Q Branch, Bond’s tech support from whom agent 007 receives his many trinkets that aid him in fighting crime and completing his missions. Thanks to the creativity of Ian Fleming, his fans, Ian Fleming Publications, and EON Productions, we have a series that has lived on for over 60 years and hopefully will continue for generations to come.

Novel after novel and movie after movie, James Bond has landed a place in the hearts of men, women, and children from 1953 to 2017. Over the course of these 64 years, James Bond has been developed by 7 authors, 12 actors, one publishing company, and one entertainment group. There are 42 James Bond books and 26 films. A new James Bond actor is being chosen as of this writing, along with the making of another action-packed film. Unlike many other series, James Bond is an entertaining work known for being adapted by many. Ian Fleming meant it when he said, “I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories,” and we can all agree that this is exactly what he did.

Bibliography

Daily News Dig. “James Bond History — Discover The Secret Agent’s Origins And More.” Daily News Dig. Daily News Dig, 29 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.

Fandom. “James Bond Books.” James Bond Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.

“James Bond — Ian Fleming.” Ian Fleming. Ian Fleming Publications, 2016. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.

“Who Played James Bond: A Complete History.” Who Played James Bond: A Complete History. 007 James, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.